UT football: Scott sets hard-hitting tone

AUSTIN — Last August, Christian Scott was the star of Texas’ preseason training camp. Even after missing an entire regular season, Scott wasted little time in proving he’s not exactly rusty.

On the first play of 11-on-11 action at the Longhorns’ first open practice of camp Wednesday night, Scott obliterated tight end Greg Smith, inciting an eruption of screams from not only his teammates but also the thousands of fans at Royal-Memorial Stadium.

How did Smith handle the blow? Even a couple of hours later, some UT defensive players were unsure.

“He flew out of my line of vision so fast,” Longhorns safety Blake Gideon said,” I didn’t even see what happened to him.”

Scott, who sat out 12 games last season because of academic eligibility issues, is expected to help fill the void at safety left by first-round NFL draft pick Earl Thomas. He, Blake Gideon, Nolan Brewster and Kenny Vaccaro give the Longhorns one of the most talented groups of safeties in the country.

But Scott wasn’t the only standout at Wednesday’s workout. Other players to turn heads included:

Cody Johnson: No, you can’t judge running backs very well in practice. Whether Johnson moves past Tre’ Newton and Fozzy Whittaker in UT’s eternal search for a ground game is yet to be determined. But Johnson — listed at 5-foot-11, 250 pounds — looked to be in great shape with flashes of quickness, something fans rarely saw from him last year.

DeSean Hales: The 5-foot-11,175-pound sophomore is undersized and doesn’t run the crispest routes, but every time you look up at a spring practice, an orange-white scrimmage or a preseason workout, he’s making a nice catch. Four veterans are ahead of Hales in the wide-receiver pecking order, and freshmen Mike Davis and Darius White look as good as advertised, but Hales is doing his best not to be ignored.

Jackson Jeffcoat: Only a year ago, Alex Okafor was the fresh-out-of-high-school physical specimen that lined up at defensive end and immediately started dropping jaws. Wednesday, Jeffcoat blew that first impression away. Between Jeffcoat — the highly touted freshman from Plano West — Okafor, Sam Acho and Eddie Jones, replacing Sergio Kindle might be easier than some think.